Kite



Feb. 23, 1937-. 1 W 2,071,

' KITE.

Original Filed April 4, 1953 WITNESS! erse various other desired:Patented Feb. 23, 1937 PATENT OFFICE 2,071,807 KITE Ivan Wolfl, NewYork, N. Y., assignor to Arthur A. Johnson, Bridgeport, Conn.

Application April 4', 1933, Serial No. 664,322 Renewed July 14, 1936 11Claims.

The present invention relates to kites.

It is an object of the invention to provide a kite: which may be socontrolled in flight that it may be caused to traverse the air indifferent directions 5 at the will of the operator.

This object of the invention is attained by providing a kite which,while tailless in the sense that it is self-complete without anelongated flexible tail, includes a main portion and a tail portiontogether establishing a kite substantially uniplanar except duringflight; in which kite, however, said elements are combined in such a waythat during flying of the kite the same can be rearranged in the air,and solely by deliberate manipulation of the flying cord by the kiteflyer, thereby to cause the kite to rotate about the flying cord as acenter, and also to swoop in a desired direction, that is, to rise ordescend vertically, to move to the right or left horizontally, or totrav- Various other objects and advantages of the I invention will behereinafter pointed out or become apparent, and the invention itselfwill be more clearly understood from the following detailed description,when taken in connection with the accompanying drawing.

in this drawing, which shows an illustrative embodiment of the inventionas at present pre- 30 ferred,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of said embodiment, showing the kite inflight,

Figure '2 is a view in rear elevation of the kite, 'the'vie'w being onan enlarged scale,

Figure 3 is a sectional view of the kite on a still further enlargedscale, the view being taken on the line 33 of Figure 2, but showing thekite somewhat bellied out toward the flyer, that is, in flight, as inFigure 1,

Figure 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of a portion of the kiteframe,

Figure 5 is a fragmentary detail view, partly in section, showingcertain of the parts as seen in Figure 2.

Figure 6 is a transverse sectional view on a reduced scale, the viewbeingtaken on the line 6-6 of Figure 1, and

Figure 7 is a fragmentary perspective illustrating a detail ofconstruction of the kite.

Referring specifically to the drawing, the kite is designated A. Itincludes a frame which in the present embodiment of the inventioncomprises two members it and i2.

These members are secured together as at 53 with the member I2 55crossing the ii ea ts a sr ther paths, at the will of of and these twomembers I and I2 will be hereinafter referred to, respectively, as thespine member and the bow member.

Both the spine member and the bow memberare formed from material havingan appreciable degree of flexibility and in actual practice I have foundsplit bamboo a very satisfactory material from which to construct thesemembers.

The bow member I2 is secured to the spine member H) as by a cord binding[4, a reinforcing 10 or holding element I5 being also employed. Insecuring the members l0 and I2 together, the bow member 12 is bowed.downwardly so that its ends occupy a position below its point ofjuncture with the spine member ll], said bow member be- 15 coming bowedrearwardly when in flight, that with the convexity of such bowing facingthe kite string or flying cord, as illustrated in Figure 3. The spinemember) is also similarly bowed when in flight as illustrated in Figure3. Then, as shown, the kite when in flight is of substantiallyconcave-convex form, with its convex sideopposite the kite string. Theside of the kite facing the flying cord will hereinafter be called thefront of the kite, and the other side of the kite therear thereof. Whennot in flight, however, the kite is substantially flat.

Extending around the frame members there is a cord or suitably flexiblemember l8 which is connected to the upper end of the spine member 3 l 0,to the opposite ends of the bow member l2, and again to the spine memberif) at a point slightly spaced from the lower end thereof as indicatedat l 9 in Figure 5 of the drawing.

- As the kite is shown, this cord l8 forms the" defining edge of thekite all over except near the kite bottom; and also serves as a means bywhich the cover of the kite assumes and retains its proper shaperelative to the kite frame.

The cover of the kite is designated by the refer- 40 ence numeral 29.This cover is formed from a relatively light thin material, one goodexample of which is a specially treated tissue paper readily obtainableupon the open market.

The cover is cut to proper shape and of a size 5 slightly larger thanthe finished kite in order to provide a marginal portion 22 to beinturned or folded inwardly about the cord l8 and secured to the rear ofthe kite by a suitable adhesive materialsuch as glue, paste or the likein the manner illustrated in Figure 7.

The lower end of the cover 20 terminates in a straight horizontal edge30, as distinguished from the upp r end thereof, which terminates in. acori i, the upper side edges of the kite upwardly This five-sided figuremay be said to define the outline of the kite proper, or main kiteportion.-

The marginal portion 22 of the kite cover 20, provided only for thiskite portion, is coextensive with all the bounding edges thereof-exceptthe edge 30. The four edges of the main body of the kite above the edge30, which are marked 32, 33, 32' and 33 and hereinafter called the mainedges, should all be rather strong yet not stiff; while the edges 32'and 33 should be very freely flexiblealong their entire lengths.

Cord IB, as aforesaid running all around the .five founding .edges ofthe main portion of the A to prevent injury thereto and tearing of thekite ..cover, and at the same time allows the edges 32 kite, acts as areinforcing means for said edges,

and 33' to have a high degree of flexibility.

.Referring now to the tail portion of the kite,

. at its .bottom portion the kite is provided with a member .34 which issubstantially triangular in shape. This member is preferably formed from,suitable adhesive.

the same material from which the face is formed and may be secured tothe rear of the face by In securing this member 34 v ,to the kite, it isso positioned that its lower portion extends to a pointbelow thestraight edge -30 as best illustrated in Figures 2 and 5, thus providinga frustotriangular .tail portion 35.

Means is employed to provide a degree of rigidity to, the tail portion35 of the kite and in the present illustration of theinvention, thismeans comprises a pair of elongate flexible vanes or bracesv 36, saystrips of bamboo, which extend from apo-int closely adjacent the loweredge .38

,of the memberi34 and thence upwardly convergingly as shown, into thebody of the kite.

Asbest illustrated in Figure 3, the member 34 comprises two thicknessesof material, preferably formed byfoldirrg a single piece of materialupon itself to formthe lower edge 33 of the tail portion [35. Insecuring the vanes or braces 36 in position, their lower ends are pastedin between the two thicknesses of the material from which the member- 34is formed, their upper ends being pasted in between one of thethicknesses of material forming the member 34 and the cover of the.kite, preferably at the rear thereof.

The bridle consists of two lengths of silk thread or other suitablematerial, the members being ,designated40 and 4| and the cord 42, whichis also preferably of light silk and forms the means by which the kiteis flown, is attached to the bridle as at 43. The member 40 of thebridle is attached to the kite frame at the junction of the ,bowandspine, the member 4| being attached to the spine at a po-intslightlybelow the midway point between the juncture of the bow and spine and thelower end of the spine. -70

At various points, other holding elements as shown at 45 may beemployed, the holding elements l and 45 being preferably in the form ofsmall pieces of suitable material pasted to the face ofthe kite andsecuring the spine and bow thereto.

While the kite is aloft, it is maintained, by the wind which sustainsits flight, in a very different condition from that uniplanar one it isin normally or when not in flight. All the time the kite is flying,certain valley-like depressions are formed in the front of the kitecover, and at the same time, certain bowings of the spine and bowmembers, are effected.v In order more conveniently to describe thesedepressions and bowings, assume that the kite is so flying that, as inFigure 1, its spine member ID is in a vertical plane.

" There is a compound bowing of the bow member [2, a bowing of the spinemember ID, and because of these bowings a considerable slackening of thestretches of the cord l8 along the kite edges 32'-and33', and verylittle if any slackening of the stretches of said cord along the kiteedges 32 and 33.

The bowing of said bow member I2 is called a compound one, because saidmember is now not only-downwardly bowed as it is in thekite normally,but also-rearwardly bowed; that is, thetwo downwardly arched terminalportions of said bow member at opposite sides of the spine member arenow not only so arched but also curvilinearly trail the point ofintersection of these two members.

Thespine member ID, although unbowed in the kite normally, is now bowedin such manner that the terminal portions thereof above and below thebow member rearwardly curvilinearly trail said-point of intersection.-

The fact that the stretches of the cord l8 along the kite edges 32 and33 are not slackened as are the stretches of said cord along the kiteedges 32 and 33', follows from the fact that by far the greater lengthof the spine member ID is below said point of intersection between saidspine member and the'bow member. In other Words, the wind, while it actson the kite cover in a manner to urge both terminal portions of bothsaid members to flex rearwardly of the kite, gives by far the greatestrearward flexure to that length of the spine member ID below said pointof intersectionso muchso that the edges 32' and 33' of the kite areallowed to belly rearwardly of the kite even though the terminalportions of the bow member [2 are by the same wind being arched so farbelow and to the rear of said intersection point that, instead of anyslackening of the kite edges 32 and 33, there is perhaps even a tendencyto tauten these edges. In order to attain a proper such bellying of saidedges 32' and 33, said point of intersection must always be above themidpoint of the spine member if and probably if not certainly well abovesaid midpoint, where the spine member is of the same degree offlexibility from end to end thereof. On the other hand, saidintersection point must of course be a suflicient distance below the topof the spine member to allow of some rearward flexure of the portionthereof above said point; as otherwise the bow member will be sorestrained by the stretches of the cord l8 along the kite edges 32 and'33 as to prevent arching of the bow member as last-described.

Said bellyings of the kite edges 32 and 33' are necessary to insure thatthe valley like depressions aforesaid can form in the kite cover; andsuch depressions are important operative features.

These valley like depressions exist during flying of the kite asdownwardly diverging elongate hollows in the front of the kite cover.They start imperceptibly at their upper ends, at points oppositelyoffset from the spine member and somewhat below the intersection of thatmember with the bow member I2, and then run down obliquely of the faceof the kite from said points to the kite edges 32' and 33', becoming ofgreater and greater cross-section as they descend. These valleys, asthey will hereinafter be called, are

alike in length and in cross-sectional area at if not all of the windgathered into and sweeping downward along the lengths of said valleys.

Although including these two main valleys, the kite at its frontnevertheless presents a general rotundity, both vertical and horizontal,with the center of such rotundity well above the midpoint along thelength of the spine member It and not far from the upper ends of themain valleys.

As to the frusto-triangular tail portion 35, this, during flight of thekite, is literally merely a tail portion or part; as, due to the braces36, the complete working tail includes, in addition to said portion 35,the lower central part of the main portion of the kite above the edge 30thereof which is substantially coextensive with that part of the member34 above said edge 30. The com plete tail may be defined as that portionof the entire kite which acts as a rudder in holding the kite to apredetermined direction of straight-line swoop when, as hereinafterexplained, the kite has been started on sucha swoop with the corner 3|foremost. Such complete tail will be hereinafter referred to as therudder tail. This rudder tail, extending up into the main portion of thekite as just explained, has downwardly diverging upper limits a littlebelow the lower ends of the downwardly diverging lower sides of the twomain valleys in the front of the kite cover; and should excess windspill sidewisely from the lower ends of said valleys, this wind willsweep downward over the rudder tail and will if anything assist in thebehavior of the kite however held or maneuvered according to theinvention.

The purpose of the braces 36 is to provide a means for insuring that therudder tail will always be so disposed that the two substantially anddesirably if not essentially identical halves thereof, one on each sideof the spine member I0, will each remain substantially uniplanar overpractically its entire surface at all times, and even when, due to heavywind pressure on the kite, said halves diverge rearwardly 6f the spinemember to form two substantially flat leaves, so that in horizontalsection the rudder tail is V-shaped. While the new kite is an easy andfast flyer without the braces 36 and even without the member 34, and canbe rotated about the flying cord as a center according to the inventionas hereinafter described whether or not the rudder tail of the inventionis incorporated, said rudder tall or an equivalent is of assistance inholding the kite in normal flying position, and is apparently essential,if not in starting the kite to swoop in a desired direction, at least inholding it to straight-line continuation of that swoop. Asalreadystated, any swoop of the kite is per formed with its corner 3! foremost;that is, with the spine member l 6 lengthwisely travelling along theline of swoop as an arrow travels. Then the rudder tail acts, in keepingthe kite to a swoop in the same direction in which said swoop wasinitiated, as do the feather flumes on the butt of the arrow, Theseswoops are performed at high speed; and then, due to the pressure fromthe relative wind, the two leaves of the rudder tail are considerablyangularly offset relative to each other. I

Having described a preferred form of my kite,- I will now describe themanner in which the kite is flown and operated to vary its direction offlight as aforesaid. v

The kite is sent up in the usual way; being held to haveit front facethe wind, with its corner 3| uppermost, and then allowed to rise to Oncethe kite is well aloft, and in normal flying position, the kite remainsin that position, that is, with its spine member it in a vertical planeas aforesaid, but with the spine member inclined in that plane, so thatthe corner 3! at the top of the kite is more or less in front of thebottom of the kite according to the difference in length between thebridle members 40 and ll and the angle of inclination of the flying cordi? to the horizontal.

When the kite is in its normal flying position, it maintains thatposition, in any ordinary wind, as long as the flying cord is heldsteady, or substantially smoothly payed out, or substantially smoothlypulled in. The rudder tail of the kite now being vertically below itstwo main valleys, such tail lends to ride straight up on the wind, withits two halves on opposite sides of its spine member Hi equallyyieldingto the wind so as .to be equally diverged toward the rear of thekite from a vertical plane including said spine memher; and the ruddertail thus holds the main valleys also evenly in the wind, so that thecord joining the ends of the bow member 52 is kept horizontal. Due tothe action of the rudder tail, said chord is not allowed in any ordinarywind to depart from the horizontal sufiiciently and for a long enoughperiod by any sudden wind gust to permit either one of said main valleysto become so much more advanced into the wind than the other that thetwo valleys can begin to act as propelling vanes to start rotation ofthe kite. If, in a very violent and uneven wind, such kite rotationshould start, it will be merely a fractional one, extending throughsomewhat less than 45. At the conclusion of such fractional rotation, ifwhile the same was proceeding the flying cord was held steady, the kitewill reverse its direction of rotation and return to normal flying posiition. The performance of said fractional rotation is apparently due tothe fact that a sudden wind gust has jolted thekite toward the fiyer,much as it is jolted by a deliberate flick or jerk of the flying cord asbelow explained, so that the kite drops back into the wind with saidchord canted from the horizontal and consequently so that said main.valleys are inclined in the wind to act as propelling vanes for thekite; and due to the fact that, with the flying cord held steady aftersuch a canting of said chord, a certain time interval must elapse beforethe wind is enabled, through its action on the kite, and probablyprimarily on the rudder tail, to swing said chord back to thehorizontal. The next ensuing reverse rotation of the back to normalflying position is apparent ly caused by the fact that the just'referredto swinging back of the kite, aimed to restore said chord to thehorizontal, actually results in a lateral throw-over of the kite suchthat the main valley previously more advanced into the wind is now lessadvanced therein than the other valley. But said reverse rotation of thekite is slower than the rotation thereof in the first-mentioneddirection away from normal flying position, and so as the kite comesback into normal flying position, with the rudder tail vertically belowthe main valleys, the aforesaid tendency of the rudder tail then. toride straight up on the wind halts the kite and holds it in normalflying position.

During the first part of the ascent of the kite, there is sometimes,although not always, a slow rotation thereof in one direction or theother about a point on the kite at which the flying cord if prolonged tothe kite would pass through the same. This rotation is caused by theadvancing of one valley more into the wind than the other, as the resultof an accidental lateral tilting of the kite. No particular attentionneed be paid to this; as continued letting out of the flying cord in anycase allows the kite to ascend to the height desired, and, at anyinstant desired, a steadying of the flying cord, that is a steadyholding of the cord against being further payed out, will immediatelybring the kite to normal flying position, with its corner 3| uppermostand its spine in a vertical plane.

With the kite flying in normal position, it is held in that position,and at the same time altitude is gained, very rapidly or comparativelyslowly, by pulling in the flying cord, very rapidly or comparativelyslowly; while distance is gained in the usual way, that is, by payingout the flying cord. The gain of altitude just referred to is by a swoopof the kite vertically upward; a swoop in any direction being attainedby pulling in the flying cord after the kite has beenrotated about suchcord topoint its corner 3| in the direction of swoop intended. As willbecome clear in a moment, it is important, in the paying out or pullingin of the flying cord as just mentioned, to avoid jerking the cord.

When. it is desired torotatethe kite, as to point it for a swoop in apredetermined direction, such rotation is commenced by giving a definiteflick to the flying cord so as suddenly to jerk the kite toward theflyer. The amount of jerk required depends on the size of the kite, itsangular mounting on its bridle, and the strength of the wind. Followingsuch jerk, which always jolts the kite in such manner that one of itsmain valleys will be thrown further into the wind than the other, sothat both valleys are now set to act as wind-operated propelling vanesto rotate the kite, the kite will start rotating in one direction or theother according to whether it is one or the other of said valleys whichis most thrown into the wind, and apparently in the direction which willallow the valley nearer to the kite flyer to lead the other valley asthe kite rotates.

To summarize the more important maneuvers of the kite, and how the kiteis controlled to obtain them:

First.-Variously to rotate the kite (A) To start the kite rotating, theflying cord is given a definite flick or sudden jerk; whereupon (a) Ifthe flying cord is thereafter held steady, the kite, in whicheverdirection it happens to start to rotate, will perform a fractionalrotation, usually somewhat less than 45, and hereinafter called theinitial fractional rotation, and then halt and reverse its directionofrotation to return to normal flying position; or

(b) If the flying cord is thereafter payed out substantially smoothly,the kite will continue its rotation in the same direction as that inwhich it started to rotate, completing any fractional part of a completerevolution desired or performing several successive revolutionsandrepeating these as long as the fllying cord is continued to be payedout.

(B) To reverse the direction of rotation of the kite after it has beencaused to continue rotation in that direction beyond the initialfractional rotation, the flying cord is given a second sudden jerk;whereupon V (a) If the flying cord is thereafter held steady, reverserotation of the kite will result in the kite returning to and remainingin normal flying position, the kite either coming to a halt in normalflying position when first arriving there or following a number ofdiminishing oscillations about such position; or

(b) If the flying cord is thereafter payed out substantially smoothly,the kite will reversely rotate to and past its normal flying positionand then continue on in that direction of rotation, completing anyfractional part of a complete revolution desired or performing severalsuccessive revolutionsand repeating these as long as the flying cord iscontinued to be paid out. 7

Second.To cause the kite to swoop (A) If the direction of swoop is to beother than vertically upward, the kite is rotated as above until itsvertical center-line is pointed in the intended direction of swoop, andat the instant of such pointing the flying cord is rapidly pulled in.

(B) If the direction of swoop is to be vertically upward, as to gainaltitude to a point where the kite is to be rotated as above and thenswooped downward either vertically or at some special angle to thevertical, the gaining of altitude to that point is accomplished merelyby pulling in the flying cord rapidly while the kite is in normal flyingposition.

(C) If after a downward swoop the kite is immediately thereafter toperform an upward swoop, it is unnecessary, after halting the kite atthe end of said downward swoop, to jerk the flying cord to startrotation of the kite to prepare for said upward swoop, as promptly onhalting said downward swoop the kite will start rotating in onedirection or the other to return to normal flying position-and when thekite has thus rotated so as to be pointed at its corner 3| for saidupward swoop, it is merely necessary again to pull in the flying cordrapidly.

A swoop in any direction is halted immediately pulling in of the flyingcord is stopped.

A swoop in any direction is started immediately rapid pulling in of theflying cord is commenced; and such swoop is continued in the samedirection as long as pulling in of the flying cord is continued.

A swoop in any direction is performed at an astonishingly high rate ofspeed in comparison with the rate of speed at which the flying cord ispulled in. During an ordinarily rapid hand over hand pulling in of suchcord, the kite appears to dart across the sky like a fast flying bird,and. there is heard plainly, if the kite is not too high, a roaring hum,apparently from flutterings of the kite cover at or near the lower orwind-spilling ends of the two main valleys. Nevertheless, theseflutterings, if they actually do occur to must? cause the hum mentioned,are harmlessly withinto a cross-section which is V-shaped across theline of swoop of the kite, which holds the kite-to its appointed line ofswoop, even though other than a vertically upwardone, and even thoughthe flying cord be given such an unintended jerk as would start the kiterotating were it in normal flying position.

To take in the kite, as to terminate the flying thereof, the flying cordis merely pulled in fairly slowly, however jerkily, or as rapidly asdesired; if it is unimportant, as it often is, whether or not the kiterotate'or perform various swoops during the taking in of the same. Ifthe flying cord is pulled in fairly slowly and without any sudden jerksthe kite will be drawn in straight 'to the flyer while holding itsnormal flying position. i

Whatever be the actual explanationsof the behavior of the kite inresponse to various manipulations of the flying cord as'described'above, the probable explanations must include the following:(1) Once the kite has been jolted from its normal flying position by theproper jerk to incline its main valleys to the wind, to arrange them aspropelling vanes for rotating the kite, the wind will so act on saidvanes to hold them as such and thereby rotate the kite, even with theflying cord held steady, through a rotation of the kite from its normalflying position to say about at 45 inclination therefrom. Such afractional rotation of the kite has hereinabove been called the initialfractional rotation thereof. There is, however, a tendency of the windto swing the main valleys back to the position where they will againboth be equally advanced into the wind, and the wind will gradually acton the kite, thus to redispose said valleys 'at the end of said initialfractional rotation of the kite, if the wind action on thekite is notmeanwhile relieved by paying out the flying cord; whereas if such reliefis afforded before said initial fractional rotation is completed, thekite will keep its main valleys advanced different amounts into thewind, and the wind will act on said valleys as propellingvanes to rotatethe kite, through one or more complete revolutions if desired, as longas the relief is continued by continually paying out the flying cord. Itshould be recalled in this connection that it has already been said thatif while the kite is in normal flying position it is started to rotatetherefrom in one direction or other by being jerked, the kite willcontinue that rotation through an arc of about 45 from normal flyingposition, even with the flying cord held steady after such jerk, andthen the kite will automatically reverse its direction of rotation toreturn to normal position. (2) With the kite rotating because its mainvalleys are advanced different amounts into the wind, the second jerkwhich causes the kite to reverse its direction of rotation accomplishesthis by re tating the kite about the chord joining the ends of the spinemember ID to an extent to cause the kite to pass through and beyondnormal flying position, thereby again to advance said valleys dilferentamounts into the wind but now with the valley which was previously moreadvanced into the wind the valley which is the one which is lessadvanced into the wind. (3) If said second jerk is given while the kiteis still performing said initial fractional rotation thereof, saidsecond jerk is effected by an actual jerk on the flying cord (andnecessarily so, otherwise the kite will have to: complete said initialfractional rotation); but if said second jerk is given after the kitehas completed said initial fractional rotation, that is, while theflying cord is being substantially smoothly payed out (this last beingrequired, as aforesaid, to have the kite rotation continue beyond theend of said initial fractional rotation), said second jerk is given tothe kite the instant such. paying out of the flying cord is ceased, thatis, actually as the result of the aforesaid steadying of the flyingcord.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that the present inventionprovides a new and improved kite, and one in which directional flightmay be obtained at the will of the operator.

While the invention has been herein illustrated in its pr ferred form,it is to be understood that it is not to be-limited to the specificconstruction herein described and that it may be practised other formswithout departing from the spirit thereof and within the scope of theappended claims;

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and what itis desired to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is; r 1. Ina kite, a coversubstantially as flexible as ordinary tissue paper, and aframe for said cover including a spine member and a bow member, saidkite being normally substantiallyuniplanar with said bow member beingdownwardly arched at its opposite ends, said -kite having substantiallythe outline of a diamond with one of its diagonals vertical, said spinemember extending along said diagonal, said bow member at substantiallyits midpoint crossing the spine member at a point considerably above itsmidpoint, said spine member being so flexible along its main lengthbelow such crossing that such length curvilinearly trails the normaluniplanar front of the kite from wind pressure thereon while the kite isin flight, the kite edges which downwardly converge from the bow membertoward the bottom of the spine member being also highly flexible andthere being highly flexible reinforcing means such as ordinary cottonthread along said kite edges whereby the wind pressure on the face ofthe kite acts through said cover to arch said kite edges to providevalley-like depressions in the face of the kite on opposite sides of thespine member wholly below the bow member.

2. A kite which has a main body having the outline substantially of anupright diamond truncated below its two side points, a tail having theoutline of a triangle having its base lowermost and at its top overlyingthe bottom portion of said main body; the entirety of the tail of thekite being provided by such triangle; said kite having a flexiblecovering for said tail and for the main body of the kite thereabove, anda frame for said covering including a spine member and a bow member;said spine member extending from the top of the diamond to the bottom ofsaid tail, and said bow member at substantially the midpoint thereofcrossing said spine member at a point between the top of the diamond andthe two side points thereof; on opposite sides of such. crossing saidbow member being downwardly arched to extend its ends to said sidepoints; said frame coacting with said covering to hold the entire kitenormally substantially uniplanar, but said spine member below suchcrossing being sufficiently flexible to trail curvilinearly rearwardlyof the kite in response to wind pressure thereon while the kite isflying.

3. The kite defined in claim 2, wherein the downwardly arched portionsof the bow member are sufficiently flexible to trail curvilinearlyrearwardly of the kite in response to such wind pressure.

4. The kite defined in claim 2, wherein threadlike flexible elements runmarginally of the kite to tie the top of the spine member to the ends ofthe bow member. I

5. The kite defined in claim 2, wherein highly flexible thread-likeelements running marginally of the kite tie the ends of the bow memberto points near the mergings of the main kite body with the tail.

6.' The kite defined in claim 2, wherein elongate flexible elements runmarginally of the kite to tie the top of the spine member to the ends ofthe bow member and also marginally of the kite from said bow member endsto points on the main kite body near the tail and also across the tailto join the points last-mentioned.

'7. The kite defined in claim 2, wherein threadlike flexible elementsrun marginally of the kite to tie the top of the spine member to theends of the bow member and also marginally of the kite from said bowmember ends to marginal points on the main kite body near the tail andacross the tail to tie said points to the spine member.

8.The kite defined in claim 2,'wherein said tail sufficiently flexibleto bend along the lower length of the spine member into two tailportions trailing rearwardly of the kite, there being stifiening meansincorporated in said tail portions 'to hold each of themsubstantialy-uniplanar at all times.

9. The kite defined in claim 2, wherein said tail is sufficientlyflexible to bend along the lower length of the spine member into twotail portions trailing rearwardly of the kite, there being upwardlyextending elongate braces incorporated in said tail portions.

10. The kite defined in claim 2, wherein said tail is sufficientlyflexible to bend along the lower length of the spine member into twotail portions trailing rearwardly of thekite, there being strips ofstiffening material in said tail portions,

said strips running marginally of said tail portions.

11. The kite defined in claim 2, wherein said tail is sufiicientlyflexible to bend along the lower length of the spine member into twotail portions trailing rearwardly of the kite, said tail being locallystiffened along lines substantially parallel to its side edges.

IVAN WOLFF.

